Every once in a while, you just have to buy an album for one song!
Never mind that Randy Newman’s classic “I Love L.A.” isn’t on the CD, even though it was the most memorable song in the Bean movie. Included instead is “I Love L.A.” as performed by…O.M.C.! Remember him? “How Bizarre”! His one hit had expired and I guess somebody thought they could re-work the “magic” on “I Love L.A.”. Maybe because both guys have a kind of flat voice, somebody assumed it would work. It does not! Why this would have been recorded, instead of simply using the Newman classic, I have no idea at all.
NOT INCLUDED.
You can also safely skip Boyzone (boy band crap but at least with a 70’s groove), somebody just called “Louise” (70’s-sounding easy listening), Thomas Jules Stock (barf-inducing pop), another person just called “Gabrielle” (60’s sounding soul), “Blair” (really stinky rap), and Code Red (saccharine soul pop). Some of these tracks aren’t even in the movie. If you want to hear some soul or funk, just put on an actual album by an original artist.
Songs you may want to give a moment to listen to include the campy 80’s classic “Walking on Sunshine” (Katrina and the Waves). You never know when you might need that song in a collection. Another good one to have is “I Get Around”, the original surf classic by the Beach Boys. From 1964, the Boys were in perfect voice, singing Brian Wilson’s genius melodies. Unfortunately it is interrupted in the fade by Peter MacNicol with movie dialogue. There are a number of tracks with this issue. Wet Wet Wet do a surprisingly decent version of “Yesterday” (in the movie, sung by Peter MacNicol). It’s too sweet and shopping market ready, but hey: it’s “Yesterday”. Movie dialogue spoils this one too, at the start of the track. Why do that? I’m not familiar with the Wet Wet Wet discography, but this song does seem to be exclusive to the soundtrack (or at least was at the time). What a way to ruin a track for the fans.
Worth noting is loop-laden “Stuck in the Middle With You” by Susanna Hoffs. This funky version is worth having for Hoffs fans, but everyone else can safely stick with the Steeler’s Wheels original. Also fun is “Art for Art’s Sake”, the 1975 original by art-rock band 10cc. In the movie, Mr. Bean works at an art gallery. Get the connection?
So what’s the one song I bought this album for? A rarity.
Back in 1992, Bruce Dickinson was working on solo material with the UK band Skin. The album would eventually become Balls to Picasso, but it was a long way getting there. I’m not sure what led Bruce to Mr. Bean. Divine intervention perhaps? Two of England’s finest exports had to meet, I suppose, and when they did, they covered “Elected” by Alice Cooper. This was done for a music video coinciding with the general election that year. As a final track, the Bean soundtrack reissued this hard to find single. Bruce sings the vocals rather straight, very raspy, very much like his 1990 No Prayer for the Dying voice. Rowan Atkinson in character as Mr. Bean reviews his campaign promises between Bruce’s growls. “To help the Health Service, I promise never to get ill.” Other promises include stopping everyone in Dover from going to the toilet (cutting pollution). “I’m the nice one in the tweed jacket,” he says. “Well it was a present actually.”
I’m a Mr. Bean fan, but there is little of appeal on this CD. After all, Mr. Bean’s gimmick is that he rarely speaks. Therefore, the movie dialogue stuff isn’t necessary. It’s a shame they ruined tracks by putting dialogue on the fades. If they had included the Randy Newman track, I might’ve been able to bump this CD up by half a star.
1/5 stars
Sorry Mr. Bean. Your CD gets the dreaded Flaming Turd!
You know how most comedies today put all the best stuff in the trailers, and the movies are crap? Paul is the opposite. The trailers sucked (Paul mooning out of a bus window?) but the movie is so much better. To my surprise and joy, Paul is a satisfying sci-fi-comedy with witty dialogue and great performances.
A lot of people (myself included) are sick of Seth Rogen, but Paul succeeds both because of and in spite of him. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost co-wrote and co-starred in a great movie here. It succeeds in combining characters that you actually care about with outrageous situations. Throw in some damn fine sci-fi references and superior casting, and now we’re cooking.
It is a science fiction nerd’s dream. Remember that “Homage-o-meter” that was on the DVDs of Spaced? You could do the same thing with Paul. From little bits of dialogue here and there (“Punch it!”) to flat out homages (re-enacting the Kirk-Gorn fight on the same mountain) this movie is loaded with loving references to the best of the best of the best.
What about the story?
Remember that “UFO” that crashed in Roswell in 1947? Turns out, that was Paul. He crash landed on Earth and has been here ever since, but he just wants to get home. See, the big nasty US government wants to cut out his brain, to gain his powers. In the decades since his arrival here on Earth, his image has been leaked out to us in the form of movies (great Speilberg voice cameo), so as to not shock us when contact is eventually revealed to the world. But before brain surgery and full disclosure, Paul escapes and runs into our two heroes, straight on their way from Comic-Con. Thus begins our sci-fi-bromance-road-trip comedy.
Before too long, Paul, Clive (Frost) and Graeme (Pegg) are on the run from the CIA, with others complicating the mix. Two “hillbilly types” and a Bible thumper are also chasing them for their own reasons. Along the way they meet Ruth (Kristin Wiig), a sheltered Christian girl who has her faith shaken by Paul, but provides much needed help. And let’s not forget Keith Nash! (I want a Keith Nash spinoff movie!)
The reason this works are many. One: the humour is not too outrageous as it is with many of today’s comedies. It combines the right amount of emotion with the juvenile humour. Two: the plot twists and turns. Its carefully woven elements all rhyme, emerging at the appropriate times. Lastly, all the characters are actual characters. It seems character is a writing skill lost in many of today’s movies. Well, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg do not lack that problem. Graeme and Clive are as well written and fully fleshed out as any classic comedy characters.
Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio, Sigourney Weaver, and the mighty, immortal Jeffrey Tambor (as pompous sci-fi author Adam Shadowchild) all lend their skills to this wonderful movie.
Bonus features are fun. I particularly enjoyed seeing how the live action stuff was filmed since Paul himself was all CG. There are also two cuts of the movie – both equally entertaining.
It is with great sorrow that I have finally come to review Season 9 of the Trailer Park Boys, released earlier in the spring. After the unexpectedly hilarious Season 8, I had only expected more from Season 9. The 8th season left us with so much promise. Not only had the show bounced back with one of its best years yet, but some fresh ideas and characters promised to rejuvenate it going forward. Unfortunately the ball was fumbled.
Even though they had written in a bottomless supply of lookalike “Orangies”, Ricky’s pet goldfish and one of the highlights of the last season, Orangie was essentially dropped in Season 9. On the bright side, Ricky replaced Orangie in his heart with a goat he found in a barn he spends some time living in. He names the goat Willy.
Even though the character of Don/Donna was a major new introduction last year, Don has been dropped (supposedly travelling, according to the online-only Season 8.5). This leaves Donna, unexplained and creepy, working in a rub-and-tizzug based out of Julian’s old trailer! He/she works with T, who doesn’t particularly care for his job. T much prefers driving his Tiz-axi.
Even though Sebastian Bach returned at the end of Season 8 for a rip-rolling close, there are no celebrity cameos in Season 9. (Although with the recent announcement and photos of Snoop Dogg appearing in Season 10, all will be remedied soon!)
The premise of the season goes thusly: Julian and Ricky are out of jail again, to find the park has been turned into a senior’s residence called Sunnyvale Villas! Jim Lahey, sober as a judge, has retired and hired ex-S.A.S. officer Col. Leslie Dancer, a “highly decorated war hero”, to run the park and enforce the rules. Liquor is forbidden. And so is Ricky. And pointedly, only Ricky.
Bubbles runs a local business in the park, a food stand that serves Taco Tuesday pretty much all week, because the seniors don’t know what day it is most of the time. Julian returns very disappointed, that Bubbles could let the park turn to shit so quickly. It’s not really Bubs’ fault though, since Col. Dancer (a former alcoholic himself) runs the place like an army barracks. But there’s something fishy about Col. Leslie Dancer. His war stories don’t add up. Was he really a Colonel?
The season takes a good number of episodes to get going. Even the awaited birth of Trinity’s first child (Ricky’s first grandchild) was underwhelming. While a good number of laughs comes from this situation, such as Ricky having to buy baby supplies, it ultimately just leads to more confrontations between Rick and industrial cock inhaler George Green, who is still banging Lucy. Corey and Jacob remain a funny team, but J-Roc is sidelined by a son he never knew. Unfortunately this too was an unfunny situation that didn’t do anything for the season or characters. Only after the boys went hunting for a Sam-Squanch did I really have some belly-laughs.
Ricky’s best line: “I’m in charge of fuckin’ over the park when it gets appraisaled today. As luck would half it, it’s piss jug season.”
As usual, the ultimate stakes for the residents is control of the park. This means getting Lahey back on the liquor, and subverting Col. Dancer. Does Julian have a plan, and if so can he pull it off? You’ll have to make it to the end of the season in order to find out. Unfortunately this is something that some of my friends have failed to do.
While Season 9 ended better than it started, I was left confounded by the unfunny episodes and storylines. I think Season 9 could actually be the first truly disappointing season. Here’s hoping for better in the 10th.
STRONG BAD Sings and Other Type Hits (2003 Harmless Junk)
Strong Bad, the coolest guy in town, is best known for his boxing gloves, mask, and emails on the Homestar Runner website. Don’t know who Strong Bad is? Then you probably haven’t heard of Trogdor (the Burninator) either. These characters are part of a cult hit series of cartoons, born online and still going today.
In the early 2000’s, somebody named “Kaizer” emailed Strong Bad to ask him to draw a dragon, so Strong Bad obliged. The animated short, titled “Dragon”, went up Monday, January 13, 2003 and soon went viral. I was immediately hooked, and even Buffy the Vampire Slayer referenced Trogdor. Strong Bad and the Homestar Runner capitalized on their fame, with spinoff clothes, figurines, Wii games, DVDs, and this CD album. The song “Trogdor” even appeared in the Guitar Hero video games!
When the CD was announced, the Brothers Chaps (creators of Strong Bad) had some of the most popular songs from their online cartoons professionally recorded. The original “Trogdor” song was a low-budget recording with only guitar; no band. The new “Trogdor” is a full-on metal assault! Bass, drums, and wheedling guitar solos galore!
Strong Bad, despite the CD title, does not sing every song. There are other tunes here sung by characters such as Homestar, Marzipan, Coach Z, and of course hair metal band extrordinaire, Limozeen. This CD is worth it just for the Limozeen track “Because, It’s Midnight”. You must trust me when I say that Limozeen is the best hair metal band to never exist. Strong Bad first mentioned them when advising fans that if they want to start a rock band, they should name it after something cool, and then misspell the name. (“Taranchula” was another band name he suggested, and they too have a metal song on this album.)
Anyway, Limozeen: “Because, It’s Midnite” is their best tune, with awesome lyrics. “Heart of lion, and the wings of a bat, because it’s midnite!” Gary, Larry, Perry and Mary are one hell of a fictional band that actually played a couple real live gigs due to demand! Their not-hit “Nite Mamas” also appears on this album, which evokes classic Guns N’ Roses.
This is for fans of the cartoon only! Everybody else will not have a clue what the heck “Strongbadia” is or why they have a national anthem. But if you’re a fan? You’ll be happy. You get the classic singalong “The Cheat is Not Dead”! And let’s not forget Strong Bad’s country classic, “Somebody Told Me (Now I Believe Them)”.
Somebody told me, that you were so stupid, but I didn’t believe them, But now I believe them.
And let’s not forget his similarly-themed ballad, “You’ve Got an Ugly & Stupid Butt”.
Quite a few songs are filler, but they’re all pretty short and then it’s onto the next one. What’s cool is the variety of styles lampooned. TV themes, techno music, gospel, punk rock and hippie jams make up the balance of the tunes. I think it’s just cool that fans of the cartoon could buy a CD with good songs and this much effort put into it. The digipack outer cover is designed to look “cheap as free” but inside there’s a full colour illustrated booklet and a Limozeen sticker!
SPINAL TAP – The Original Soundtrack Recording from the Motion Picture “This is Spinal Tap” (1984, 2010 Universal remaster)
In true Spinal Tap fashion, it turned out that I reviewed their albums in the wrong order. I went backwards, and the soundtrack to the motion picture This is Spinal Tap is the last Tap album for me to scrutinize. Though Spinal Tap is a parody band made of actors Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, it is easier to just refer to them as David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, and Derek Smalls.
If you happened to go through life without owning a single soundtrack album, then you must reverse that situation immediately. All self-respecting rock fans must be able to laugh at the absurdities of their favourite genres, and Spinal Tap represent every mis-step that legendary rock bands ever took. Spinal Tap forced real life rockers such as Judas Priest and Ronnie James Dio to laugh at themselves; a healthy undertaking. Even though some artists didn’t see the humour in the movie This is Spinal Tap, others did and were quick to claim that certain scenes were actually based upon them!
The single/video “Hell Hole” opens the album, a rare Nigel lead vocal with David St. Hubbins on the chorus. According to the helpful liner notes, this track was from Tap’s then-new reunion album, Smell the Glove. Scorching guitar from St. Hubbins and Tufnel; slamming drums from Mick Shrimpton and spot-on organ by Viv Savage: it’s all here. And let’s not forget the band’s secret weapon Derek Smalls on bass and backing vocals, thickening up the mix like a good brown gravy….
I always think of “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight” as the song on which something is all but guaranteed to go wrong, live. In the studio it’s a taut rocker with explicit lyrics: “You’re sweet but you’re just four feet and you still got your baby teeth, you’re too young and I’m too well-hung but tonight I’m gonna rock ya!” Lock up your daughters, but you don’t want to miss this scorching classic from 1974’s Intravenus de Milo.
“Heavy Duty” is a concert classic, originally from Bent for the Rent (1976), but to me it has long overstayed its welcome. It is a mere skeleton of a song with not enough raw meat. It does ask an important question in the lyrics, “Why waste good music on the brain?” Interesting inquiry David; something to get the metal masses thinking. For fans of Nigel Tufnel’s signature shredding, you will find much to love in his solo for “Heavy Duty”. Moving forward to 1977, we are next treated to the title track from Rock and Roll Creation, Tap’s misguided collection of rock and roll psalms. Thankfully the track “Rock and Roll Creation” itself boasts one of the band’s strongest choruses, though it is certainly hard to forget the scene in the movie when Derek fails to escape his pod.
The liner notes say that “America” is previously unreleased (I did not know that). It was barely in the film. This duet between Nigel and David boasts some heavy riffing, but not much in terms of melody. Lyrically the song recounts the experience of Spinal’s visits to America, “pretty womens everywhere, Brady Bunch and Smokey Bear!”
Side one of the soundtrack closes with “Cups and Cakes”, a pre-Tap single from 1965 when they were still known as The Thamesmen. This is a Tufnel creation about having tea. Predating Sgt Peppers by two years, obviously the Beatles must have taken inspiration from “Cups and Cakes” for their own songs. Strings and trumpets create the backing music while nary a rock instrument can be heard.
The legendary “Big Bottom” (from Brainhammer, 1973) was given some legitimacy when Soundgarden decided to cover it (as a medley with Cheech and Chong’s “Earache My Eye”). In this track all the axemen play bass — there are no guitars! Opening side two with a song that is all bass and no guitar was probably a genius move. I just can’t explain why. I’m just assuming. Unfortunately when Soundgarden covered it, they did it with guitars, failing to capture the mighty bass necessary to sing a song about bums.
“My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo, I’d like to sink her with my pink torpedo”
From 1980’s poorly reviewed Shark Sandwich is the riffy “Sex Farm”. Though Shark Sandwich might be considered one of Tap’s worst, “Sex Farm” is one of their most enduring anthems. Readers of my regular feature here, Record Store Tales, may recall that my good friend Uncle Meat got written up at work for playing this song in store. Supposedly somebody called in to complain about the lyrics. This is Spinal Tap is his favourite movie of all time. “I realize there is some innuendo,” says Meat. “‘Plowin’ through your beanfield’…I just, you know, the thought of someone allegedly being so offended by Spinal Tap…” he trailed off. (You can see the story in video form here, as this very CD was one of the Top Five Albums that Got Us in Shit at the Record Store.)
The best tune on 1975’s The Sun Never Sweats was undoubtedly “Stonehenge”, and I would argue that it remains the greatest Spinal Tap song of all time. It is hard to encapsulate this opus in mere English. Tap take us on a trip back in time with both Tufnel and St. Hubbins sharing lead vocals. The mandolin break at the end is one of Tap’s most famous musical moments, as it is there that things often seem to go wrong in concert, regarding the giant Stonehenge prop that is supposed to appear on stage.
In my last year of high school, my mom bought me this soundtrack on cassette. That helped enable a group of my friends to do a Spinal Tap “air band” at our school’s annual air band competition! Lacking a mandolin player, they instead snagged one of our math teachers who played banjo, and had him come out on stage dancing in lederhosen. Absolutely brilliant. I’m glad to have participated in it in my own small way of lending the tape. Bringing Spinal Tap to the highschool masses? There must be an award for that.
The album comes to an end with two oldies-but-goodies. Back to the Thamesmen days, it’s 1965’s “Gimme Some Money”, the flip side to “Cups and Cakes”. The drummer was John “Stumpy” Pepys (Ed Begley Jr.), a “tall blonde geek with glasses” according to David. Pepys died in a bizarre gardening accident. This artifact from their skiffle period is best remembered for Nigel’s cool guitar solo. “Go Nigel, Go!” Then finally it’s “(Listen to the) Flower People” from the cumbersome titled Spinal Tap Sings “Listen to the Flower People” and Other Favourites (1967). The drummer on this track was Eric “Stumpy Joe” Childs, who sadly choked to death on vomit (not his own) in 1974. What is especially interesting about this track is Nigel’s use of the sitar, a full two years after George Harrison did on Rubber Soul. Spinal Tap were exploiting the hippy movement and this track was one of their greatest successes.
The remastered CD comes with two bonus tracks! The non-album single (1984) for “Christmas With the Devil” is presented in two mixes, one from the A-side and one from the B-side. Prior to this, the only version of “Christmas With the Devil” available on CD was the re-recorded one on 1992’s Break Like the Wind. The original single version(s) remained obscure until 2000, when Universal released them here. Now finally having them all, I must say I prefer the 1992 version best. The original does have a little more pep in its step, and there is a Christmas message from the band at the end. The “scratch mix” of the single is not much different.
All joking aside, it’s crucial to remember that these guys (the actors) were not musical slouches. Michael McKean was nominated for an Oscar award, for his music in 2003’s A Mighty Wind. The musicianship is there and it’s intentional humorous. You can hear musical jokes in the solos of Christopher Guest. As a result, the soundtrack is not only funny but also timeless. A good song is a good song is a good song, and some of the tracks here are actually really good when you break them down. “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight”, “Sex Farm” and especially “Stonehenge” are all really good songs when it comes down to it!
In the real world, all the songs were written by the trio of Guest, McKean and Shearer with director Rob Reiner. The drums were handled by R.J. Parnell of Atomic Rooster, who played Mick Shrimpton in the movie. On keyboards is David Kaff (Rare Bird) otherwise known as Viv Savage from the film. (Rare Bird are probably best remembered as the band who originally did “Sympathy”, later covered by Marillion.) The album was self-produced. There is no questioning the chops of the musicians involved. It’s hard to create a musical joke of album length that is still fun to listen to 30 years later.
“Hey! These floors are dirty as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” – Stanley Spadowski
“Weird Al” Yankovic – UHF (1989 MGM, 2002 DVD)
I never understood why this brilliant, family friendly and absurd comedy wasn’t a hit. Weird Al never made another movie, such was the box office failure. UHF was simply ahead of its time. Today, viewers familiar with the Family Guy and modern comedy will “get” the tangents and bizarre fantasy sequences. Also, it’s important to remember that this great cast was barely known at the time. Michael Richards was pre-Seinfeld. Fran Drescher had yet to become the Nanny. David Proval was years away from playing Tony Soprano’s nemesis in season two. The only one I’d heard of in 1989 was Billy Barty!
George Newman (Yankovic) is an unemployed dreamer who lands a crummy job managing a UHF TV station on the verge of bankruptcy and permanent closure. He just can’t focus, constantly losing himself in rich, heroic dreamscapes. Weird Al as Indiana Jones…Weird Al as Rambo…Weird Al as Mark Knopfler…Can he use his imagination to help the TV station survive? If he doesn’t, his girlfriend Terri (Victoria Jackson) isn’t likely to stick around for long. Fortunately George’s best friend Bob (David Bowe) is there to help.
The station, U-62, comes with its own assortment of personalities. Pamela (Drescher) is the hard working receptionist dying to make the move to on-camera. Noodles McIntosh (Billy Barty) is a 3’9″ camera man! And then there’s Filo, the “chief engineer” who actually lives at the station. (He’s currently working on his interocitor, a reference from the 1955 science fiction classic This Island Earth. If you’ve seen This Island Earth, remember that reference next time you watch UHF. Get it?)
Unfortunately for George Newman, Channel 8 across town doesn’t want U-62 to succeed. RJ Fletcher (Kevin McCarthy) wants to buy it and turn it into a parking lot. Fletcher, a prick, also cruelly fires his best janitor Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards) over a misunderstanding. Newman hires Stanley, and even buys him a new mop. His old one, which Fletcher’s goons confiscated, was a birthday gift from his mom.
Newman introduces some new shows to U-62 (Wheel of Fish, Raul’s Wild Kingdom, Secrets of the Universe, Uncle Nutzy’s Clubhouse), but nothing really takes off until Stanley is given his own show, Stanley Spadowski’s Clubhouse. His crazy personality endears him to all ages and his show becomes the hottest in town. RJ Fletcher, however, doesn’t intend to let the station’s success continue. Can George and his friends raise enough money to save the station?
UHF is very special for a few reasons. One is that Weird Al does parody better than anyone. The parodies of Geraldo, Rambo, Ghandi, Conan the Barbarian, and more are still being quoted by fans today. Then there’s Michael Richards. The great thing about Michael Richards, says Al, is that you can just “turn him on and tell him to go crazy for two minutes”, and that seems to be how most of the Stanley Spadowski scenes seem to work. And it’s brilliant. Kids who saw this movie in the 80’s loved Stanley. He’s not only an innocent soul who loves cleanliness, but he’s absolutely whacky, hilarious, lovable and loyal. Third, the movie has a good heart. It celebrates imagination, uniqueness and loyalty, qualities that we all value. And of course it also has those random, rapidly changing sketch comedy bits, not too different from Monty Python and SCTV in style. It’s actually intelligent comedy.
The audio commentary on this DVD is great — even Michael Richards stops by to chat. The deleted scenes are a stream of cut bits, but Weird Al’s intro and commentary makes it hilarious. They weren’t in the movie because they suck, says Al! But if they didn’t put them on the DVD, we’d all be whining that they didn’t include any deleted scenes. He has a point! Some characters and shows (such as “Those Darn Homos”, which seems to be about two men who chase each other around a room trying to spank each other with spatulas) were cut completely from the film, so this is the only place you’d see them. As is usually the case, the movie is better for the cuts made. Additionally there is a short behind the scenes doc, explaining the origin of “Wheel of Fish” and more. Al and the cast aren’t serious in the interviews, which are hilarious:
Q: “Why do they call you Weird Al?”
A: “I don’t know, I guess people are basically cruel. I don’t know why they call me Al.”
There’s a huge photo gallery, standard fare for a DVD, and they’re fun but non-essential. The music video for “UHF” is present (the first time he shaved off his moustache, to play Axl Rose!), an indispensable companion piece. Even the menus are awesome, with Al himself popping up and acting silly. My only real beef about the DVD is this: It’s one of those double sided discs with widescreen on one side and full screen on the other. But the deleted scenes are only on the full screen side, so you have to eject and flip the disc just to watch them, because nobody watches full screen anymore.
Do you wanna drink from the fire hose? Then get UHF. It’s out on Blu-ray, too.
RECORD STORE TAKES MkII: Getting More Tale #351: Three Concerts in One Week
I love digging through old journals. I don’t get out to concerts very often anymore, but these journals bring back memories of an awesome week featuring three different concert experiences. Dig it! Some interesting autobiographical facts:
1) These journals record the date that I met Brent Doerner of Helix, thus beginning a long buddy-ship (December 1 2006).
2) I noticed that there was something in here about the flu shot. I got sick immediately afterwards. I was feeling it during the Jim Cuddy concert and got full-blown flu right after. Never had the flu shot since.
Date: 2006/11/29 06:13
Tonight we have second row seats to see BRENT BUTT! (Corner Gas) I’m sure it will be awesome and I’ll be sure to write about it later.
Then Friday is Helix…
Then Sunday is Jim Cuddy (Blue Rodeo).
Talk about an awesome week.
Date: 2006/11/30 06:55
Brent Butt was awesome, hilarious, 90 minutes of pure Canadian humour. True stuff, like, “In America, there’s no corresponding word for ‘touque’. I could understand it if they had their own word for it. Like, ‘oh, that’s what we call a nurn!’ But no, they say, ‘hey you got one of them wool knit winter cap things!’ If we said that in Canada, our brains would freeze by the time we could get out the door. ‘Honey, could you get my wool knit winter cap thing?’ zoink, you’re frozen.” So true.
There was an opening act by the name of Jamie Hutchison, guy from the Maritimes. Equally hilarious!
Date: 2006/12/01 06:14
Tonight Helix! We’ll be giving them an R around 11 o’clock at Molly Bloom’s. Helix are one of the best shows I’ve seen, and this will be my fourth or fifth time seeing them. Hopefully they’ll play their new single “Fill Your Head With Rock” which is garnering some record company interest….
Flu shot today too. Ugh.
Date: 2006/12/02 00:39
Helix were AWESOME! Right when we walked in the door, there was Brian Vollmer. He saw my vintage-style Helix shirt, walked up and said “hi”. He was so cool. He said, “I just have to go make the rounds and say hi to everybody here, but thanks for coming and have a good time tonight!”
So we wandered around, saw a couple old friends (The Infamous Taylor Brothers) and lo and behold…there was Bruce Arnold (original Helix drummer 1974-76)! A glance around the room revealed the Doerner brothers and Keith Zurbrigg as well! There were five current Helix guys on stage and four ex-Helix in the audience! I introduced myself to Brent and told him how much I liked his new CD.
Track list, to the best of our memories:
No Rest For The Wicked
Get Up
Baby Likes To Ride
Running Wild In The 21st Century
Heavy Metal Love
Boomerang Lover
Dirty Dog
You Keep Me Rocking
Make Me Do Anything You Want
Deep Cuts The Knife
Wild In The Streets
Kids Are All Shakin’
Animal House
I Believe In Rock And Roll
Does A Fool Ever Learn (dedicated to some schmuck at EMI (“Every Mistake Imaginable)
Rock You
I know I’m missing a couple in there, but it was a totally awesome hits night. Right now my ears are ringing and I’m buzzing!
Date: 2006/12/04 06:19
The Cuddy show was awesome, thus ending my three-concert-week. It was a three hour show. The opening band were a part of the whole show as Jim brought various members back out to augment his own songs. He played two songs from his first record, most of the second record, and about six Blue Rodeo songs. He threw in a Neil Young cover, bassist Bazil Donovan sang one of his own, and they also performed one by the opening band!
So terrific show, there were even two Blue Rodeo guys in his backing band. However the real star of his band was violinist Anne Lindsay. She was on fire!
I’ll admit I never saw the original cut of this 1999 cult indy classic. I’d heard of it back then, but never saw it. All I’ve seen is this recut version, and I am pleased to bits over it. Not knowing what to expect, I popped the movie into the DVD player. This movie was a good 15 years ahead of its time. Now you can see this every week on The Big Bang Theory. I’d almost go as far as to call Big Bang a ripoff. Almost. Big Bang never got Shatner on their show.
I was immediately inundated with sci-fi and pop culture references to make Kevin Smith wet his bed. Anyone born in the 1970’s will understand. Yet, this is not as cheesily done as the disappointing Fanboys. Something about this strikes the nerve of authenticity. From re-enactments of Logan’s Run (“Run, runner!”) to geekouts over Wrath Of Khan laserdiscs, and incorporating Terminator quotes into everyday life, if you’re a sci-fi geek, you will never find a more wretched hive…sorry, got carried away there. Throw in Swingers influences for the late 20’s crowd in the late 90’s and you have a pretty entertaining film. Although in the wake of Big Bang Theory, I fear viewers today will simply feel they’ve seen this before.
Eric McCormack is a struggling writer (his latest screenplay, Brady Killer — a horror movie set in the Brady house — is pretty much junk). Rafer Weigel (who?) is a film editor for a tiny studio, making movies like Beach Babe Bingo Fiesta. Their lives consist of trying to score, geeking out over Star Trek (“only original, only classic!”), and in Rafer’s case, paying the bills without hawking his Trek goods. Their lives take a turn for the interesting when they are browsing books and run into…William Shatner (browsing porn), as played by William Shatner.
This is, in my own humble geek opinion, Shatner’s best movie. At times he plays himself understatedly dark, other times with panache, and outrageously at others. Most of all, Shatner’s Shatner is whacko. A lonely whacko, and lovable, but also out-of-his-tree whacko, as if every story you ever heard about his ego was true. He is working on his own film project, a little epic. William Shatner and William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. A musical version. Six hours long. Three intermissions. With Shatner playing all the parts. Except Calpurnia. He was thinking about getting Sharon Stone for that part.
Shatner, as great as he is, is only the background for this lovingly made film. He appears in childhood dream sequences, and he pops up unexpectedly when the characters need to confess their problems to what essentially amounts to a friendly, lonely stranger. Our main characters are going through their own late-20’s problems, mostly with women. The performances are merely adequate, certainly not Oscar-worthy, but damned if McCormack doesn’t do the best Shatner monologue that I’ve ever seen. It’s a very, very good Shat.
This is not a complex story, but it is a warm one about friends and Trek, and is infinitely re-watchable. I pull it off the shelves every year or so to enjoy and geek out. I can’t say the same thing about Fanboys. Its only flaw is its ending, which is a shame since the ending is kind of the important part. Considering that the ending is a musical performance by William Shatner though, there’s some camp value to it. It’s just…not very good.
The DVD bonus features are pure awesomeness at warp 9. My favourite was a pilot for a series called Cafe Fantastique that was never picked up, but damn, it should have been. The makers of Free Enterprise came up with a series where they just discuss science fiction news and films over drinks in a bar with special guests. Chase Masterson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) appears in this pilot. It’s kind of like that show that Jon Favreau had where he just hangs out at dinner with his friends. Shoulda woulda coulda been a series. I would have watched it, and so would you. Lastly there is a large booklet with lots of pictures and essays, and a glossary of geek speak. For example “Soylent Green is people!”
Pickup Free Enterprise if you:
a) are a Shatner fan
b) love Kevin Smith style films
c) think Han shot first.
3.5/5 stars. An indispensable part of my Trek library.
Thank Santa’s tits! It was with tremendous joy that I watched the long-awaited Season 8 from the Trailer Park Boys this past weekend. I watched five episodes on Saturday night, and five more Sunday morning. Then on Monday, I re-watched my favourite episode, “Orangie’s Pretty Fuckin’ Tough”. As a long time fan, to say that I am pleased is an understatement. I am thrilled. Knowing in advance that a couple characters weren’t coming back (Ray and Trevor are no longer on the show), everything I wanted out of the show was there. There are even a couple new characters, who look like they may be important in the already finished Season 9.
As if there was no pause at all, Season 8 feels like classic Trailer Park Boys, immediately. Some new characters are introduced, such as Don, who joins Randy as the new Assistant Supervisor. “Officer Highcock”, another new face, is no George Green. He’s smart. But fear not, George Green is back too, although Lahey is approaching retirement.
Trinity is tending bar at Julian’s new in-park club/gym, “The Dirty Dancer”. Bubbles is building his “Shed & Breakfast” for humans and cats. Julian and Ricky have numerous schemes on the go. Ricky’s growing dope at a mad rate, and refining it into honey oil, by special order of Sebastian Bach. He’s also realized that he can use hash as currency almost anywhere: on the bus, at the hardware store, or the dentist’s office. Seems just about everybody accepts Ricky’s $2 hash coins!
There’s also plenty of shady horsecockery. Cyrus and Sam Losco are working together again, and they want to buy the park and bulldoze it to the ground. The only solution is for Julian and Barb Lahey to work together to keep it. Needing capital, Julian sets into motion businesses and schemes galore. Steve Rogers returns for a hell of a bachelor party at Julian’s bar, attracting the attention of the cops.
Ricky’s life is complicated by some unexpected news. The only thing holding him together is Orangie. My buddy Chris and I agree on this: the best element of Season 8 has to be Ricky’s goldfish, Orangie. Ricky loves to party with him, and takes him everywhere in a bowl with ORANGIE scrawled on it in magic marker. Ricky’s car now has a sun roof (of sorts), which functions as Orangie’s swimming pool after it rains. Ricky wakes one morning to find Orangie unresponsive: “Orangie, you finally passed out in the pool, did you buddy?” When Bubbles asks what happened, Ricky explains: “We got fucked up on hash tokes and shooters. Orangie’s pretty fucking tough. Woke up this morning with my fucking pants down and my hands on my cock, thanks to Orangie.” Now it’s up to Bubbles to replace Orangie before Ricky realizes the fish is dead. As if minding a goldfish isn’t enough, Ricky also decides to turn his trailer into a hockey rink.
Bubbles’ doesn’t have it easy either. Due to a complex series of events regarding Steve Rogers, hookers, crabs, and Bubbles’ shed(s), he goes nucking futs at a drug store and is sentenced to community service. Where Ricky has Orangie for support, Bubbles turns to his new puppets…Bobby Turkelino, and little Ricky! And you know what happens when you mix Bubbles and puppets.
The story arc in this season was hilarious, with only one dud in the bunch (I’ll let you figure out which). Some story points hint at what may be coming in Season 9, and that has me anticipating more hilarity. Hopefully, Orangie will make an appearance in Season 9. With a few more trips to the pet store, Bubbles should be able to make that happen. Trailer Park Boys is off to a hell of a new start, and with the progress made in Season 8, I see no need to stop.
4.5/5 stars
Review by LeBrain with contributions from Chris Thuss.
TRAILER PARK BOYS – Live in F**kin’ Dublin (2014 Netflix)
Some things never change!
Some time before the events of Don’t Legalize It, our boys Ricky and Julian had to help Bubbles make a music video, to win a chance to go to Ireland with Rush. Bubbles, dressed as Alex Lifeson, chose a shot-for-shot remake of the “Closer to the Heart” video. Ricky, wearing a false nose, is Geddy Lee (Ricky thinks it’s “Freddy Lee”). Julian taped a piece of chicken skin to his chin to get the look of Neil Peart’s Fu Manchu ‘stache. Drumming one-handed with a glass full of rum and coke in the other hand isn’t easy, but Julian pulls it off. The video wins the contest! Alex calls Bubbles personally and the three are soon on a private jet bound to Ireland (“Ironland” according to Ricky), with Randy tagging along.
Unfortunately for Ricky, a private plane isn’t a free license to bring your own dope into Ireland. The judge, however, is sympathetic. Since the boys are so popular in Ireland, he will drop the jail sentence if the boys will perform a show for community service, about the dangers of drink and drugs. The boys agree to a show in Dublin (“Doobylin”), and the live portion of the program begins.
The Trailer Park Boys live on stage in this case consisted of a puppet show, some audience participation contests, a couple of live songs (including Bubbles’ hit “Liquor and Whores”) and a lot of fuckery. If you have seen the boys live, then you know their show is basically just organized chaos. Audience members are invited on stage (the two dumbest ones, apparently) to play Cory and Trevor for the evening.
Highlights included the appearances of the Green Bastard (from “Parts Unknown”) and the evil puppet known as Conky. Apparently Conky must have survived being drowned in the episode “A Shit River Runs Through It”. I also enjoyed Ricky’s trick of “hippotizing” the crowd. He learned how to do it by watching Reveen, and wears a Reveen-esque magician cloak for it.
The film ends with the boys returning to Canada, having missed the Rush concert. As a bonus, you do get to see their Rush video in its entirety, side by side with the original. A nice addition, as this video is the highlight of the film.
Back in 1992, Bruce Dickinson was working on solo material with the UK band Skin. The album would eventually become Balls to Picasso, but it was a long way getting there. I’m not sure what led Bruce to Mr. Bean. Divine intervention perhaps? Two of England’s finest exports had to meet, I suppose, and when they did, they covered “Elected” by Alice Cooper. This was done for a music video coinciding with the general election that year. As a final track, the Bean soundtrack reissued this hard to find single. Bruce sings the vocals rather straight, very raspy, very much like his 1990 No Prayer for the Dying voice. Rowan Atkinson in character as Mr. Bean reviews his campaign promises between Bruce’s growls. “To help the Health Service, I promise never to get ill.” Other promises include stopping everyone in Dover from going to the toilet (cutting pollution). “I’m the nice one in the tweed jacket,” he says. “Well it was a present actually.”
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