Into the Wild (2007)

Growing up, I always found myself getting lost in books and films about surviving the elements or daunting odds; The Call of the Wild, Empire of the Sun, Castaway, Robinson Crusoe, etc. So it was little surprise that Into the Wild resonated with me.

Emile Hirsch turns a brilliant performance as Christopher McCandless, a young man with a troubled family life who opts to disappear. The film is of course about his inevitable trek "into the wild" of Alaska-- but it focuses equally on the bonds McCandless forms with the people he meets and the friendships he forges on his journey.

What makes the film so work is the familiarity established with the friends McCandless makes and the bonds he develops. These bonds help to make him that much more human and while his motives may not be easy for all to understand his basic human nature is never in doubt.

In addition to Hirsch's brilliant performance as McCandless, Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, and Hal Holbrook also turned fantastic performances.

If Sean Penn continues to make films of this caliber hopefully he'll finally be convinced that he's much more skilled behind the camera than he is in front of it.

Supertramp - Even In the Quietest Moments (1977)

While, on the whole not as strong or consistent as Crime of the Century or Crisis? What Crisis?!; Even in the Quietest Moments has some absolutely brilliant moments and gave glimpses of the musical brilliance yet to come with their 1979 masterpiece, Breakfast in America.

The album starts with a bit of a surprise, Give a Little Bit. Supertramp has never been considered much of a guitar-oriented band-- so starting an album off with the acoustic guitar driven Give a Little Bit is a rather ballsy move. A move that however paid off as Give a Little Bit remains an FM classic rock radio staple to this day. The album also closes with a bang; arguably one of their most adventurous and daring songs, Fool's Overture. Clocking in at just under eleven minutes, Fool's Overture is an homage to all the prophets of history who were seen as fools in their own time, their brilliance often not realized until after their prophecies came to fruition. The song is beautiful, melodic, and quite touching.

Supertramp has never been a band that's been easy to pigeonhole. They've often been considered "progressive rock" by the mainstream, but at the same time rarely do the get mentioned in the same breath as groups like Yes, King Crimson, ELP, Genesis, Rush, Caravan, or even Starcastle. Perhaps the biggest difference between Supertramp and groups that are traditionally considered to be progressive rock is the emotive level of Supertramp's music. Most progressive rock is considered "thinking man's music" largely due to the technical prowess of the musicians which perform it. Supertramp in contrast have often been able to generate not just an appreciation of their technique but also genuine emotion. And even though it's not as strong as many of their other albums, Even In the Quietest Moments is no exception. The music is poignant, almost like an old friend reminding you he/she is there. You may not need that old friend right now, but it's always nice to know you have a friend like Supertramp when you need it.

Perhaps what keeps this album from attaining the high quality of Crime of the Century or Crisis? What Crisis?! is that with only seven songs clocking in at only forty-three minutes, the album merely whets the appetite whereas the two previous albums not only whet the appetite but sated the musical hunger of the listener. With the album ending on such a strong note with Fool's Overture it really leaves you wanting more making the album feel as though it has ended far too abruptly.

Related Links
Give a Little Bit


From Now On

Fool's Overture

British Classic Rock

On a message board I frequent, the subject of British Classic Rock came up. Here was my artist by artist take on a handful of solid British bands:

Rolling Stones - While I appreciate the influence they've had on other bands, I've never really understood their appeal. I only own one of their albums (Beggars Banquet) and I do appreciate many of their singles, but all in all I think this is a band that for a long time has simply been famous for being famous, not because they're still actually any good-- seeing the Stones live today is kind of like seeing Sinatra long after he'd lost his singing voice-- bragging rights and nothing more.

The Who - I consider The Who's Next to be one of the greatest classic rock albums ever. I find it superior to Tommy, Quadrophenia, and just about everything else they ever recorded. It IS a masterpiece! I find these guys to be more talented than Led Zeppelin ever was.

Led Zeppelin - It often gets glossed over that Page & Plant were largely musical plagiarists. They were talented musicians, but much of their songwriting comprised of filching styles and even material from others-- sometimes giving credit where it was due-- sometimes not. The intro to Stairway to Heaven, for example, was taken from an instrumental piece by Spirit titled Taurus. I appreciate the impact these guys had on music and their musicianship but they lose boku points with me for their plagiarist tendencies.

Genesis - I'm a big fan of the Steve Hackett era (1972-1977). Hackett joined Genesis as their guitarist just in time for the Nursery Cryme album and left shortly after the Seconds Out live album. I'm not a big fan of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway as I find it to be a bit to overindulgent and pretentious. Selling England By the Pound is a superior album as are A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering-- the band's first 2 post-Peter Gabriel solo albums. Foxtrot while excellent isn't quite as consistent as Selling England By the Pound.

Yes - I'm in the minority here, my favorite Yes album is Drama (1980), the only album to NOT have Jon Anderson on vocals. This isn't a slam on Anderson-- it's just that there's a musical chemistry between guitarist Steve Howe and keyboardist Geoffrey Downes that I find to be superior even to the chemistry of Howe and Wakeman. Drama is also a precursor to what would become the supergroup Asia.

King Crimson - After a revolving door of lead singers-- Greg Lake, Gordon Haskell, Boz Burrell (who left to play bass for Bad Company), and John Wetton (later the lead vocalist of Asia) the band finally split up in 1975, after Red. They of course re-grouped with a different line-up and new lead singer, Adrian Belew, in the early eighties... But the original era of the band is what holds my interest, in particular the albums featuring Greg Lake or John Wetton on vocals.

Bad Company - Their debut album was a masterpiece! One of the best and most consistent debut albums ever. Their sophomore release, Straight Shooter has some strong moments but isn't quite as good as their debut. After those 2 albums however the quality of their albums fell off sharply.

Emerson, Lake, & Palmer - The first real supergroup. Tarkus and Brain Salad Surgery are both excellent albums showing the trio in top form. They had some other solid albums but over time their material grew increasingly weaker. They started with a bang and petered out to a whimper.

Pink Floyd - The best British psychedelic band, arguably the best psychedelic band bar none when they started out. After the departure of the enigmatic and troubled Syd Barrett, their material grew much stronger and quite a bit more ambient. The partnership of David Gilmour and Roger Waters produced far stronger material than that of the troubled Barrett. However, given that much of their later material was done as a tribute to or in honor of Barrett, it could be argued that he remained a member of the band long after he left it.

The Beatles - They're the standard bearers. They took what they heard coming from across the pond, put their own stamp on it, perfected it, made it their own and became not only musical but also cultural icons. Their influence is undeniable.

Badfinger - These guys were on the way to becoming the NEXT Beatles, but then it all fell apart.

Electric Light Orchestra - After the untimely demise of Badfinger, Jeff Lynne picked up where the Beatles left off mixing Beatles-esque harmonies and songwriting with strings and a fantastic stage show to boot.

T-Rex - Marc Bolan was the Godfather of Glam, he got the world ready for David Bowie. Bolan was an exceptional guitarist but a bit too full of himself. His songs like 20th Century Boy and Bang a Gong (Get It On) are glam staples and glimpse of what was to come from hair metal bands like Def Leppard (a band that was admittedly heavily influenced by T-Rex/Bolan) in the eighties.

Spencer Davis Group - If not for Steve Winwood, these guys would be a mere musical footnote. Their songs like Gimme Some Lovin', I'm a Man, and Keep On Runnin' were infectiously catchy even if not the most technically challenging. Something tells me if not for these guys we never would have experienced Blind Faith or Traffic a few years later.

Supertramp - The combination of Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies vocals and John Helliwell's solid woodwind skills combined with strong lyrics of loss, confusion, and alienation set these guys apart from their contemporaries with a sound that was truly all their own. After 2 mediocre albums and 3 year hiatus they finally found their footing with 1974's Crime of the Century and maintained that footing until 1983's Famous Last Words before Hodgson left to pursue a solo career.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

This film is absolutely beautiful to look at. The cinematography is absolutely brilliant, nearly every frame is a work of photographic art.

The acting is exceptional. Casey Affleck's Oscar nomination was very well deserved. He appointed himself excellently in every scene in which he graced the screen.

That being said, I couldn't help but feel I was watching a western version of The Talented Mr. Ripley, Robert Ford came across as a bit of an overzealous, stalker/sociopath-- the equivalent of Matt Damon's Tom Ripley, with Brad Pitt playing the hair-trigger tempered Jesse James (Jude Law's Dickie Greenleaf).

The plot was plodding at best, even with speeding up portions of the film to 1.5 speed the film at times STILL felt as though it were dragging. Then again, the movie handicapped itself with its own title. Even if one didn't know the story of Jesse James, the very title gives away the ending. One can only hope that the filmmakers stop while they're ahead and forego a The Assassination of Robert Ford by the Coward Ed O'Kelley or possibly even The Assassination of Ed O'Kelley by the Police Officer Joe Burnett.

The film gets 2 stars: 1 for cinematography, 1 for Casey Affleck's acting. This is a great film to watch if you're suffering from insomnia and would prefer to avoid taking Ambien, Lunesta, or any other pharmaceutical sleep aids. In fact, I'm surprised Big Pharmaceutical didn't put the k'bosh on this film as it is a far more effective sleep aid than any of their medical alternatives.