Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Fabulous Wednesday

Here are a few fabulous things I recommend you check out


Music:
Songs I love from this album:
Cross the Line
This Time
Green Light
Here is Rolling Stone's review of the album: (PS it got 3 1/2 out of 4 stars)

Evolver opens with chirping birds and a woman's contented sigh. It's morning in the boudoir; a young lady is in post-coital repose; soon, a manservant will bring mimosas. Lots of R&B dudes promise opulent nights of ecstasy, but Legend is so classy that these fantasies seem like real journalism. With piano-flecked soul ("This Time"), lite funk ("Green Light") and reggae ("No Other Love"), Evolver's tunes and arrangements are as impeccable as the cut of Legend's suits. (Even his taste in guest rappers — AndrĂ© 3000, Kanye West — is upscale.) And there are a few surprises: "I Love, You Love" (produced by Will.i.am) builds a lush ballad around a guitar lick lifted from a Dire Straits tune. Legend can be goody-goody, but aspirational babymaking music doesn't get more skillful than this.
JODY ROSEN
(Posted: Oct 30, 2008) Rollingstone.com



Movie:This movie got snubbed for awards this year. You will laugh and cry, and cry, and cry some more.
But its a good cry, not an ugly cry.

Below is the rollingstone review:( it recieved 3 1/2 stars as well. What can I say, I have great taste)

Clint Eastwood has hinted that his role as bigoted Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski — a gun-toting widower living in Detroit near the struggling Ford auto plant and even nearer to the Asian immigrants crowding him out of his run-down, racially mixed hood — may be his last role as an actor. Eastwood, 78, has two Oscars for directing Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, and two nominations for starring in them. But an Oscar for acting? Not yet. Get busy, Academy.
I don't think Eastwood will ever turn down a juicy role. But Gran Torino, named after the 1972 car that Walt garages and polishes like a symbol of his idealized past, is a humdinger of a valedictory. Directed by Eastwood from a script by newcomer Nick Schenk, Gran Torino is Eastwood's hell-raising salute to every hardass he's ever played. Cranky Walt often communicates in a growl that sounds like a demon in need of an exorcist (wait till you hear Eastwood rasp a few bars of the film's memorable title song). Walt squints at the Hmong family next door, especially Thao (Bee Vang), a teen with a rustler's eye on the Torino. Thao's smart-mouth sister, Sue (the wonderful Ahney Her), can defrost Walt with a beer and food that isn't his usual beef jerky, but only Walt's dog, Daisy, dares to get too close. Cocking his rifle when gangbangers intrude on his territory, Walt snarls, "Get. Off. My. Lawn." Terrific stuff. And it gets better when Walt confronts some hoods playing grabass with Sue: "Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while that you shouldn't have messed with? That's me."
And that "me" isn't just Walt. It's the Man With No Name taking aim in those spaghetti Westerns. It's Dirty Harry Callahan asking, "Do you feel lucky, punk?" It's William Munny, from Unforgiven, digging deep to note, "It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have." It's even Frankie Dunn, the fight manager from Million Dollar Baby, who knows "tough ain't enough."
Tough has never been enough for Eastwood. It's a credit to the film's twist ending that Walt exorcises his demons without easy violence or bogus redemption. A lifetime in movies runs through this prime vintage Eastwood performance. You can't take your eyes off him. The no-frills, no-bull Gran Torino made my day.

PETER TRAVERS rollingstone.com
(Posted: Dec 25, 2008)


Art:


A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat

You can see this piece at the Chicago Art Institute. Its my favorite piece of art. Seurat used tiny dots (the technique is called pointillism) to create a fabulous picture. I wonder how many dots are on this piece and how long it took him to create this? I'm not putting a review on this one because if you can't see its fabulousity yourself...well then your at the wrong blog.



1 comment:

Kymical Reactions said...

Linz -
that fab piece of art always reminds me of Farris Buler's Day Off - right before Cameron loses it.